Nathan Lee Graham (Zoolander, "LA to Vegas") Nadia Quinn (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Josh Sharp (Comedy Central's "The Opposition"), and Phillip Taratula ("The Outs") have joined the cast of Justin Sayre's camp-horror-soap-opera Ravenswood Manor at Joe's Pub on Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28 at 9:30 PM. After premiering at the venue last fall, Ravenswood Manor will be continued with episodes 7 thru 9 on Saturday, and episodes 10 through 12 on Sunday. In addition to Justin Sayre, both evenings also star Jenn Harris (Silence the Musical, New York is Dead), Jeff Hiller (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, "Nightcap"), Rob Maitner (59E59, 54 Below), Aaron Jackson (Comedy Central's "The Opposition"), and Nicole Spiezio (Ars Nova, "Housewife Sonata"). Ravenswood Manor is directed by Ellie Heyman with music by Henry Koperski. For tickets, visit JoesPub.com.
Taking a cue from television shows like "Dark Shadows," Ravenswood Manor brings us back to the small New England town of Ravenswood, where frightening and unusual things are happening with more and more frequency. The movie-star, Bettina Doors, has returned to her childhood home, under mysterious circumstances and a veil. There's a werewolf on the loose and rumblings in the seedy homosexual underground, all while the country gets ready to elect a new president in the summer of 1979. Who knows what will happen in this small American town on the brink of disaster. The first installment covered the first six episodes of the show, and now we return with the final six of season one. All will be revealed and recapped (don't worry)!
"It's a Camp-tastic romp!" says Sayre. "I wanted to write something scary and campy. I was obsessed with the melodrama of Dark Shadows and wanted to try to work in the form." Sayre will be playing Bettina Doors, and hopes to see the show moving forward to play with gender roles. "My original concept for the show, was double-casting with each actor playing both a male and a female role. But this time in New York, I wanted to get as many of my friends involved as possible."
In addition to debuting at Joe's Pub last fall, the first three episodes of Ravenswood Manor were presented in Los Angeles in November, in association with Celebration Theatre, starring Drew Droege, Sam Pancake, and Jordan Black. That reading was produced by Jay Marcus and Tom Detrinis, who also directed.
Justin Sayre is a writer and performer who Michael Musto called, "Oscar Wilde meets Whoopi Goldberg." Sayre has been a fixture of the downtown scene in New York, first with their long-running monthly show, The Meeting of the International Order of Sodomites, Bistro Award-winning and two MAC nominations, and now with new shows at Joe's Pub/The Public Theatre like "Peaches, Eggplants, and Tears" and "The gAyBC's," a five-part show which will be released in book form by Chronicle Books later this year. As a playwright, Sayre's work has appeared at Dixon Place, The Wild Project, The Celebration Theatre, The Players Club, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre. Sayre was amongst the first class of The Queer Art Mentorship, where he worked with Everett Quentin of Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatre Company on their play, The Click of the Lock. Sayre also hosts and writes, Night of a Thousand Judys, a benefit honoring the life and legacy of Judy Garland and raising money for The Ali Forney Center for Homeless LGBT Youth in New York. The 7th annual event will return to Joe's Pub on June 1.
Sayre has written a series of YA Novels, Husky and Pretty, with the third in the series, Mean, released later this year by Penguin Books. Sayre is the host of the podcast Sparkle & Circulate. Sayre's first comedy album, The Gay Agenda, was listed as The Comedy Bureau's "Best of 2016." Sayre also writes for television, working with Michael Patrick King on his hit CBS comedy, "2 Broke Girls," and currently writes for Fox's "The Cool Kids." Sayre also appeared on HBO's "The Comeback" with Lisa Kudrow.
Joe's Pub, named for The Public Theater's founder Joe Papp, opened in 1998 and plays a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting young artists while providing established artists with an intimate space to perform and develop new work. Under the new leadership of Director Alex Knowlton, this fall begins Joe's Pub's 20th Anniversary Season of presenting the best in live music and performance nightly, committed to diversity, production values, community and artistic freedom. The venue also offers opportunities like New York Voices, an artist commissioning program that provides musicians resources and tools to develop original theater works; Joe's Pub Working Group, an artist development initiative; The Vanguard Award & Residency, a yearlong series that celebrates the career of a prolific and influential artist, who leads their own artistic community; and nationwide programming partnerships. Commissioned artists include Mx Justin Vivian Bond, Bridget Everett, Daniel Alexander Jones, Ethan Lipton, Toshi Reagon, Allen Toussaint and more. The venue's food and beverage partner is NoHo Hospitality Group, helmed by acclaimed chef Andrew Carmellini. With its intimate atmosphere and superior acoustics, Joe's Pub presents talent from all over the world as part of The Public's programming downtown at its Astor Place home, hosting approximately 800 shows and serving over 100,000 audience members annually.
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